


Not Today

by asarahworld



Series: Bigger on the Inside [7]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Regeneration, Regeneration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 01:09:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9524873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asarahworld/pseuds/asarahworld
Summary: I'm just so sad right now that Peter's leaving.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just so sad right now that Peter's leaving.

The Doctor was old. Oh, he knew he didn’t look it. He was your average looking bloke, physically maybe fifty-sixty in human terms. But spending four and half billion years inside a confession dial, that put a considerable amount of strain on one’s body. At least, he thought grimly, this body had lasted more than a little longer than most. His ninth body had only managed a little over a year, his tenth not much longer than three.

Perhaps this was why most Time Lords spent their lives hidden away, secluded on Gallifrey. Why they didn’t burn through regeneration after regeneration. The Doctor caught a glimpse of his face reflected in the scanner’s screen. Lined and creased, with grey hair before he’d even broken it in. Not that that had stopped him – indeed, he’d continued running across the galaxy. He’d reunited with his oldest friend, and his oldest enemy. He was glad, in a way, that the Master had survived. They had gone through so much together, and him being dead had never felt right. Why he hadn’t regenerated when he’d begged, he still hadn’t a clue, but he’d conceded when she’d asked. He hadn’t been entirely pleased to see her, but that was often how one felt when one’s best friend continuously tried to kill them.

He would never be truly ready to regenerate. It had taken thirteen lives to realize this, but every life he’d lived, the Doctor had clung to it. He often made quick quips before the renewal, but that was a façade, as was every face and expression he afflicted. Last time he’d regenerated, it had been almost instantaneous, even from the perspective of a Time Lord. Of course, he’d been putting it off for so long that the renewal of his body, once it had been allowed to start, quickly overtook all and any other processes.

He didn’t want to regenerate. He didn’t want to change. But it was time. He remembered his thoughts from just before the last regeneration*, and scoffed. The words rang true in his mind, but yet hollow. They were meant to comfort his companion, and nothing more. The Doctor closed his eyes, and his hand tightened on the time rotor. Not today.

**Author's Note:**

> *We all change, when you think about it, we're all different people; all through our lives, and that's okay, that's good, you've gotta keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.


End file.
